19 Formula Car Challenge Racers Take On The Famous Corkscrew
Monterey, CA
July 29th, 2017

This past weekend Monterey featured stellar weather for the Rounds 9 and 10 of the Formula Car Challenge presented by Goodyear. The series opener took place inside of the SCCA Group 2 event. 34 drivers were registered in Group 2, with 19 of those drivers being eligible for Formula Car Challenge points. “This season we have 14 races, and 8 of them are inside of SFR SCCA run groups,” noted Series Official Ben Hettema. “Every season we design the schedule to provide drivers with a variety of different racing experiences. Racing inside of a larger group presents a unique dimension of competition not unlike racing at LeMans or the 12 Hours of Sebring.” Once the morning fog rolled away on Friday the drivers got on track for a 25 minute practice before the afternoon qualifying session.

Jim Mali, who lives almost walking distance from the track, took a commanding position in qualifying and was more than a full second faster than any open wheel car on track. He kept the same stance in the race, and led from wire to wire. Jay Horak was able to get close to the same lap times later in the race, but by then Mali had built a comfortable lead. Howard Sklar rounded out the Pro FM podium. In the FS class, Colin Mullan was in control and led from flag to flag, as did Bill Weaver in FM.

When the green flag fell on Round 10, Mali again ran off into the distance. Horak was working hard to reel him in, but FS drivers Colin Mullan and Carter Williams got by him at the start. Horak eventually regained his position in front of the FS class drivers, but their battle continued right up until the final lap. In the closing laps of the race, as the cars were working lapped traffic, Colin was slowed down going into turn six, and then again in turn ten. This is when Carter went for a three-wide pass at the apex of ten to take the lead. Colin attempted to recapture the lead into turn eleven, but ran out of time. In FM Weaver was in control from start to finish, but behind him drivers were really mixing it up. Best FM move of the day was when Randy Sturgeon passed Derry O'Donovan for 3rd on the last lap to grab the last available invite to the podium.

At every Formula Car Challenge event series partners provide additional awards to the competitors. Select drivers were awarded complimentary Goodyear Racing tires. Pole sitters were each presented with The Molecule Pole Award. The Molecule Pole Award is given to the fastest qualifier in each class. The award includes a selection of Molecule suit care products. Next up on the FCC schedule is the September 14th-16th double-header at The GoPro Grand Prix as support for the Verizon IndyCar Series. This is the second race weekend of the Triple Crown.

The Formula Car Challenge presented by Goodyear is part of the Mazda Road to Indy USF2000 $200K Scholarship Shootout, which will see the champions of select junior open-wheel and karting series from around the world vie for a scholarship to enter the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda in 2018.